I was angry at first. I won't deny it. [It's just as well that Arthur hasn't managed to look up, because neither has Merlin. His boots scrape against the ground quietly as Merlin draws his legs up, arms wrapping around them and keeping them in place.]

Then I realised you hadn't known. How could you have, if I hid her away and kept her secret? For all you knew, the bastet was just another magical creature hurting Camelot's people, just like all the others before.

I didn't want to believe it when--when Gaius told me. I thought...she was like me, that she thought her magic was a curse because of what she'd heard. [Merlin ducks his head again.] I wanted to help her see that magic could be something great, something beautiful, like Gaius taught me. I didn't think--

[Merlin breaks off, exhaling shakily.] It's not fair, what happened to her, but it wasn't your fault. If anything, the blame falls on the woman who placed the curse on Freya, for using magic like that and destroying someone's life.

So...yeah. I don't hate you.